By many media headlines in recent weeks, at least, 9-year-old Kristina Pimenova is considered one of "the most beautiful" girls in the world and one of the most successful child models working today. Her career in the modeling industry, which has spanned six years already, includes runway shows, major brand campaigns, and editorials in top fashion magazines.

Pimenova's mother Glikeriya champions her daughter's work and, as many proud parents do in our age of all things social media, shares photos from Kristina's modeling portfolio on Facebook and Instagram regularly — Kristina's Facebook page has over 2 million fans now (though she is apparently banned from the Internet until she reaches her teens). And then people comment. Most leave empty praise and/or emojis, but there's always a faction of fierce critics, because that's how the Internet works. In Kristina's case, arguments that the images present her in an inappropriate light are common; worse still, comments from folks arguably appreciative of that perspective pop up once in a while. As The Daily Mail notes, "critics see a dark side, with one commentator branding a photo of her in shorts as 'creepy' while a male user wrote worryingly: 'I like it'."

Facebook.com/KristinaPimenova

In an interview with The Mail, Glikeriya hits back against both sides of that sexualized child coin — "I do not accept those accusations about [the] sexualisation of my child," she told the paper, adding, "I am certain in my mind all her photographs are absolutely innocent." She continues, "She is just a little girl who is attracting a lot of attention and unfortunately some of this attention is coming from strange people with huge personal problems... You must think like a pedophile in order to see something sexual in these pictures."

Glikeriya says she she understands "the serious concerns about encouraging pedophilia or making children look sexual," but draws a sharp line between "pictures of young girls in truly sexual poses, with heavy makeup and dressed like women, lying in bed or something" and photos of Kristina on her modeling jobs. (Whether deliberate or not, this seems like a reference to a prior controversy over a Vogue Paris photo shootwith then-10-year-old child model Thylane Blondeau.) In particular, she says Kristina is only allowed to wear lip balm on shoots, no other makeup — and even this only if her lips look dry. She also says Kristina sees her modeling work as fun, an "adventure" even, and that it's a welcome respite from her regular routine of schoolwork and gymnastics practice — Kristina is a burgeoning rhythmic gymnast who, Glikeriya says, practices for four hours six days a week.

http://instagram.com/p/vl-opWL2fJ/

Nobody wants to see their child objectified or even viewed in such a manner, so Glikeriya's outrage seems well-placed — though her flat-out refusal to acknowledge any potential difference between the "innocent" intent behind Kristina's photo shoots and what some see in their end result means the problem is unlikely to go away. But it must be noted she presents some problematic opinions in the interview herself — The Mail reports she argues that pedophilia and notions of sexualized youth are primarily Western cultural phenomena and, in particular, "coming from countries where same-sex marriages are allowed." Linking pedophilic behavior and homosexuality is well-worn bigotry, and it's unjustifiable in any form.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Cosmopolitan participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.